You may be spending a lot of time thinking about how you want your lips to look, which is completely understandable. Your lips play a major role in the look of your face and overall appearance, too. However, it’s just as important to consider what looks you want to avoid when having your lip treatment, and how you can take the risk out of enhancing your lips. With so much media bombardment about how our lips should look, you may feel tremendous pressure to have your lips done, even if you’re not sure exactly which treatment to have or what style will look best on you.
You may feel like you have to have a particular look because of its popularity, while it could be totally wrong for your features and the overall balance of your face. The whole process — which should help you look and feel better — can instead feel completely overwhelming. We want to help make this process a bit simpler and safer, so you can get the full benefits from your lip procedure and avoid its many hazards. Here are a few things to consider — and avoid — as you plan the lips of your dreams.
Don’t copy your favorite social media star — you do you!
Social media makes more trends and style icons available to us — often on a minute by minute basis — than ever before. Your social feeds can be a great way to get ideas and see what looks are “hot” right now. However, a good lip treatment will bring out your best lips and features, while “someone’s else lips” will rarely look good on your face. If you have ever spent hours driving on the highway, you’re probably familiar with the concept of “velocitization”; your body begins to view moving fast as the new norm; social media can have the same effect on us.
After looking at too many pictures of overfilled lips and maxed-out pouts, that look can begin to seem like “the norm” to us. By comparison, your lips can seem way too small — even if they’re not. Don’t fall into this trap! Choose the perfect lips for you, not for YouTube.
Do choose high-quality fillers, if you want outstanding results!
Several options that can seem incredibly appealing because of their cost and touted benefits are actually extremely dangerous, including biopolymer injections (liquid silicone). This cheap alternative to better studied and higher-quality injectables (such as hyaluronic acid-based filers) can actually do substantial harm to the body that is not limited to the area of treatment.
Biopolymers, to focus on this single treatment type, have been associated with severe pain, tissue necrosis and, in extreme cases, even death. Other products that are also commonly available and very risky include Biogel, Hydrogel, PMMA and Aquagel; these compounds are not FDA approved injectables and should always be avoided to protect your looks and safety.
Also, just avoid the squeeze-bottle lip enhancer thingy that has gone viral across the Internet in recent months. You know the one. Your lips deserve way more than a five-dollar infomercial treatment.
Go bigger if you want, but don’t have too much filler at once
Most individuals seek out lip treatments to augment the size of their lips. Full lips add a healthy, youthful attractiveness to your look, which can enhance the appearance of the entire face. However, the benefits of lip augmentation don’t increase with the size of your lips. Going “too large” can have serious and lasting consequences. Too much filler can stretch lip skin to the point that, without increasing amounts of filler, your lip skin can sag, leaving you with drooping lips or overinflated lips, if you continue to have fillers.
In extreme cases, patients with this problem can find relief only through lip reduction surgery. If you opt-out of having surgery, you may still encounter other problems from overfilled lips. Too much filler injected into lip tissue can actually constrict blood flow to the area, damaging the health of lip tissue with devastating consequences. Lips pumped up with too much filler can also lead to the “sausage look,” which, trust us, doesn’t look good on anyone!
To avoid complications, always have your treatment performed by a qualified doctor
Bargain shopping is always a good idea — except when it comes to plastic surgery. Shopping for a lip treatment by cost alone pretty much guarantees that you’ll receive a low-quality filler, like the ones we talked about above, or that your treatment will be performed by an untrained, inexperienced and unqualified technician. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable with your lip augmentation provider operating on you, you probably should reconsider having them perform your injections.
Yes, injecting filler is a simple and straightforward procedure, but you want to ensure you avoid unnecessary complications, like allergic reactions, and that you receive the right amount of filler in the proper locations for a lasting and attractive look. Only a doctor with a sound understanding of anatomy and the results that a filler can achieve can give you the beautiful and trouble-free outcome you deserve. Having a doctor perform your injections will come at a slight cost premium; however, pain, health problems, a sub-optimal look and additional procedures can far outweigh this additional expense. Corey S. Maas MDTM is a board-certified facial plastic surgeon, and one of the leading injectors in California. Trust the surgeon other surgeons go to for training.
Call Corey S. Maas MDTM of The Maas ClinicTM today to schedule your personalized lip care consultation!
Corey S. Maas MDTM and his staff at The Maas ClinicTM are conveniently located to help San Francisco area patients realize their attractive lip goals, safely. At the Maas ClinicTM, you can expect personalized attention with tailored treatments that can enhance the lips and entire face. We can also help you pair treatments with your lip augmentation for maximum results. Substantial rejuvenation doesn’t have to be complicated, painful, daunting or expensive. Dr. Maas can make the process simple and even enjoyable, so you can get your look quickly and start enjoying life with an appearance you genuinely love. Schedule your exclusive, in-person consultation now by calling The Maas ClinicTM at (415) 567-7000. Your lips can look their best now with the help of Dr. Maas’ expertise and deep patient commitment. We hope to see you in our offices soon!
